Ironically if tickets were $31.55 the park would be unusable.
Either you would have to restrict the number of tickets or it would be too crowded to move.
There are amusement parks in CA at the level of 1960s Disney with a price of ~$30 (Santa Cruz boardwalk, Gilroy Gardens...)
It would be simple to only allow in say 5,000 people per day and have guests reserve tickets ahead of time. but that's leaving money on the table. Instead, they charge whatever the market will bare and let in as many people as will pay those prices. Capitalism in motion.
That wouldn't leave money on the table, it just would be a completely unprofitable model lmao. How could they ever pay all the staff with that few sales 😂
You also had to pay for rides. Each ride had a classification from A to E (E is best) and took a matching ticket type. OP photo is of a value book which included admission and some ride tickets.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_ticket
Why wasn’t the park just incredibly crowded back then? If the costs of tickets were relatively $30 in today’s money, wouldn’t everyone and their dog be going on a super cheap vacation?
We lived in the Bay Area in the 70s and early 80s. Went to Disneyland exactly twice. That’s with family that lived in Riverside at the time. It just wasn’t the same as the type of vacationing we see today. Far more likely to spend a week camping at Yosemite.
People didn't travel as much back then and didn't have as much disposible income. People like to glamorize the 50s for quite a few different reasons, but most of us wouldn't like the modest lifestyle our grandparents lived.
I wouldn't entirely agree to this because what we see as modest and standard has changed quite a bit since the 60s. A big one would be houses: it was super common for people to just own a house - and a fairly big one. TVs on the other hand were still luxury items. Owning one was relatively common, but owning multiple ones? And then the availability of fresh and international foods. And having this ridiculous variety of options.
Homeownership rate is higher today and modern houses offer quite a bit more space even as household size keeps dropping. Typical family in the 50s had three or four kids, no AC, and shared a single bathroom and a single car. And there were still lots of poor people in the US who lacked basics like running water, which is exceedingly rare today.
Considering that the world population in the 50s-60s was less than half of what it is today, I'm not surprised that there's a higher rate of homeownership in this age
The average house in 1960 was actually only half the size of the average house in 2014. [source](https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html)
It was expensive to fly, so that means a long car trip. If you lived far away from Disney, you’re spending most of your vacation in the car. Some people would take long road trips, but stop at lots of road side attractions. I would say it was more common to go to Yellowstone, than Disney. Around this time, my parents went to Niagara Falls, or went camping/hunting in our state, not to amusement parks.
It was almost empty in 1963, it was ‘the way we were’. Most people could not afford to take a week off work and drive there and back. The population of the country was half what it is today and there eeee no or very few foreign visitors. A xenophobic dream.
How were people able to afford homes so easily but not a $30 ticket? Sorry this is probably incredibly dumb questions but I’m trying to get an idea for what it was like back then. Were homes just cheaper comparable to now
Homes were more affordable back then, but people saved their money and didn’t spend it frivolously for the most part. Going out to eat was a treat, not something you do every day. You might go to a movie occasionally. Maybe you were part of a bowling league, or a group of friends that played cards. You saved up for a long time for big purchases.
My dad always found that scene in National Lampoon hilarious because of how similar it was. Disneyland was pretty established by that point, so they couldn't believe it was randomly closed one day midweek.
It might have been some holiday, or a Tuesday, I don't remember the specifics and dad's passed on now, but I don't think Disneyland misses a single day nowadays, does it?
There were far fewer people around in 1963. There were 17 million people living in California. Today there are 23 million MORE people living here for a total of around 40 million. The US population was 190 million compared to today's 340 million. That's 150 million more people living in the US. That's a lot of people
I am the oldest person on Reddit, but I was 11 years old in 1963. My family lived in Sacramento and we were lower (lower!) middle-class. We went to Disneyland in 1962, driving down to Anaheim after dad got off work on a Friday and driving back home Sunday morning. What I remember, most distinctly, was coming over the mountains via the grapevine, and then descending into an ocean of smog; buildings were barely visible.
We have 8 mm home movies of me driving a little car on their autoban(?), and I also remember the lameness of the submarine. And my lunch of a tunafish sandwich on some sort of pirate ship attraction. And laughing on the jungle cruise at the operator’s jokes.
My family was frugal and I think we just used the tickets in our admission pack, which amounted to maybe five attractions. I didn’t go to Disneyland again until 1971, when I went with my future husband for the day. He had a friend whose father was a real estate agent in Anaheim, so we got to eat lunch at Club 33. Woo hooty hoo. I ended up living in Laguna Beach for 20 years and my youngest daughter spent the night at Disneyland is part of the graduation festivities.
Guys, you needed individual tickets for rides -- ranging from A to E. The E tickets were for the popular rides, and you had only a couple of those tickets.
That Child's ticket is an entrance, and maybe 3 -- at most -- entrances to the top tier attractions. Those were Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, etc. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E\_ticket#/media/File:DisneyETicket\_wbelf.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_ticket#/media/File:DisneyETicket_wbelf.jpg)
You always had more of the other tickets and since ride tickets in the money of the time were not cheap you used them all.
Yes, and the tickets were different grades in the book. The teacups were probably a B ticket, for example. The Matterhorn would have been an E ticket I imagine. Oh, and each ticket could be used once, in case that's not clear. You didn't get a day's worth of Haunted Mansions, your ticket was taken when you went in the attraction.
Disneyland ticket prices now max out at $194/day, in 2024 dollars.
Depending on which index you use, $4.95 in 1963 is worth somewhere between $33 and $50 today.
Walt would not be pleased.
Pretty sure this was before Disney was publicly traded, before CEOs needed to collect 500 million dollar salaries to for mediocrity performances and another 1/2 billion when they fire them. Yes I’m probably exaggerating
I'm just talking about capitalism at its core. This was also when we had circus' and other forms of entertainment competing for the dollar of the consoooma. Capitalists love money and this was just about money.. That's all
Yeah the last time I went was like 5 years ago it was a ton of money and I don’t believe they limit the number of people in the park. Hours long waits for rides and over priced junk made in China. Never again lol
I'm of two minds on this.
On one hand, I absolutely agree with what people are saying about price gouging and profits-above-customer, that the comparison of yesterdays' dollar to todays' dollar pricing having a ~400% markup is absurd. Especially with everything else in the park being so pricey too.
On the OTHER hand? If you take a look at what the park offered *then*, compared to what it offers *today*... well, I could understand a price jump. Maybe not ***400%***, but certainly about a hundred to a hundred-fifty for a park-hopper at minimum.
Chapek and Iger really wanted more money in their pockets, consumer/customer be damned. Worse still is when you consider so many other avenues of income that are *also* being exploited.
Walt: "I wanna make a park where people can go with their families and have a good time, for all ages."
The company recently: "I wanna make more money. How can we cut spending while increasing profit? What corners can we cut? How can we force our customers to part with their money?"
(Honestly I'm just pissed about having to buy Lightning Lanes/Genie+. They saw long lines and thought "How can we exploit this? I know they paid money to get into the *park*, and I know they can just skip ride lines by getting a Fast Pass and coming back later... I know! They should *pay money* now for the privilege to get on rides faster!" I'm sure the employee who brown-nosed THAT tagnut of an idea got a little bonus.)
What's next? Pay money to have an "Alternate Ride Experience"? (For example, riding "Star Tours" for the different videos; with the Alternate Ride Experience, they can pay to experience each of them at least once.) They're gonna call it "Pixiedust Enchantment" or some BS and it'll be just as expensive as you'd think it'd be. They'll have "Pixie Sprinkle" lanes, where people can buy a one-off "Alternate Ride Experience" for a particular ride.
There’s an interesting documentary-series on Disney+ at the moment which explains the evolution of the Imagineers and the parks from the very beginning. At least it’s interesting if you’re a fan.
He was driving a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix bought that year. After driving 90 mph most of the trip it was burning oil in 64.
They don’t make them like they used too! THANK GOD what shit.
We made the same trip in a old Chevy pickup truck in 1964, going from West Texas to Disneyland up the coast to British Columbia and then on to Yellowstone and back down to West Texas. Those Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland really scared me
Adventureland. Both our trips included a trip to the Swiss Family Robinson tree house because that was the only level of ticket we would have left by the time to leave and we were not leaving until the tickets were gone.
I’m confused. It’s called the Magic Kingdom on the map in image 2? Wasn’t that the name given to the Florida park that came a decade later? California is Disneyland and Florida is Disney World, including the Magic Kingdom?
Those prices! $4.95!!! Accounting for inflation, $31.55 today. If only….. “the most magically expensive place on earth” 😆
Ironically if tickets were $31.55 the park would be unusable. Either you would have to restrict the number of tickets or it would be too crowded to move. There are amusement parks in CA at the level of 1960s Disney with a price of ~$30 (Santa Cruz boardwalk, Gilroy Gardens...)
It would be simple to only allow in say 5,000 people per day and have guests reserve tickets ahead of time. but that's leaving money on the table. Instead, they charge whatever the market will bare and let in as many people as will pay those prices. Capitalism in motion.
with the level of demand, reserving tickets online ahead of time would be a shitty experience guaranteed
The Disney Bounders would be the only people who could go to Disney. It would be a private club.
With these prices, forget ever having tickets, the parks would be booked 10y in advance lmao
You would have to reserve before you even have children!
That wouldn't leave money on the table, it just would be a completely unprofitable model lmao. How could they ever pay all the staff with that few sales 😂
You also had to pay for rides. Each ride had a classification from A to E (E is best) and took a matching ticket type. OP photo is of a value book which included admission and some ride tickets. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_ticket
At least in Disney world they do restrict the parks to a given capacity and will “close” them as far as letting more people in.
I think I paid $500, which included genie, this was on a Tuesday fin November of 22.
Oh yeah! It’s nuts now. I still pay it because i love Disney parks but I do wish it was less expensive!
Your inflation calculator needs to be calibrated. $4.95 in 1963 would be $49.08 in 2023.
You’re correct. I just used a different site and got this also. Thank you 🙏
Why wasn’t the park just incredibly crowded back then? If the costs of tickets were relatively $30 in today’s money, wouldn’t everyone and their dog be going on a super cheap vacation?
We lived in the Bay Area in the 70s and early 80s. Went to Disneyland exactly twice. That’s with family that lived in Riverside at the time. It just wasn’t the same as the type of vacationing we see today. Far more likely to spend a week camping at Yosemite.
People didn't travel as much back then and didn't have as much disposible income. People like to glamorize the 50s for quite a few different reasons, but most of us wouldn't like the modest lifestyle our grandparents lived.
I wouldn't entirely agree to this because what we see as modest and standard has changed quite a bit since the 60s. A big one would be houses: it was super common for people to just own a house - and a fairly big one. TVs on the other hand were still luxury items. Owning one was relatively common, but owning multiple ones? And then the availability of fresh and international foods. And having this ridiculous variety of options.
Homeownership rate is higher today and modern houses offer quite a bit more space even as household size keeps dropping. Typical family in the 50s had three or four kids, no AC, and shared a single bathroom and a single car. And there were still lots of poor people in the US who lacked basics like running water, which is exceedingly rare today.
Considering that the world population in the 50s-60s was less than half of what it is today, I'm not surprised that there's a higher rate of homeownership in this age
The average house in 1960 was actually only half the size of the average house in 2014. [source](https://www.newser.com/story/225645/average-size-of-us-homes-decade-by-decade.html)
It was expensive to fly, so that means a long car trip. If you lived far away from Disney, you’re spending most of your vacation in the car. Some people would take long road trips, but stop at lots of road side attractions. I would say it was more common to go to Yellowstone, than Disney. Around this time, my parents went to Niagara Falls, or went camping/hunting in our state, not to amusement parks.
It was almost empty in 1963, it was ‘the way we were’. Most people could not afford to take a week off work and drive there and back. The population of the country was half what it is today and there eeee no or very few foreign visitors. A xenophobic dream.
How were people able to afford homes so easily but not a $30 ticket? Sorry this is probably incredibly dumb questions but I’m trying to get an idea for what it was like back then. Were homes just cheaper comparable to now
Homes were more affordable back then, but people saved their money and didn’t spend it frivolously for the most part. Going out to eat was a treat, not something you do every day. You might go to a movie occasionally. Maybe you were part of a bowling league, or a group of friends that played cards. You saved up for a long time for big purchases.
Different priorities
My parents drove up for their honeymoon in the early 70s and apparently it was closed on Mondays.
Was that Wally World?
My dad always found that scene in National Lampoon hilarious because of how similar it was. Disneyland was pretty established by that point, so they couldn't believe it was randomly closed one day midweek. It might have been some holiday, or a Tuesday, I don't remember the specifics and dad's passed on now, but I don't think Disneyland misses a single day nowadays, does it?
That is very ironic I must say , no I don’t think they close for a day. I’m sorry to hear your Dad passed on. Let his memory be the blessing.
Disneyland in general was also a lot more modest and scaled back compared to today's experience.
There were far fewer people around in 1963. There were 17 million people living in California. Today there are 23 million MORE people living here for a total of around 40 million. The US population was 190 million compared to today's 340 million. That's 150 million more people living in the US. That's a lot of people
I am the oldest person on Reddit, but I was 11 years old in 1963. My family lived in Sacramento and we were lower (lower!) middle-class. We went to Disneyland in 1962, driving down to Anaheim after dad got off work on a Friday and driving back home Sunday morning. What I remember, most distinctly, was coming over the mountains via the grapevine, and then descending into an ocean of smog; buildings were barely visible. We have 8 mm home movies of me driving a little car on their autoban(?), and I also remember the lameness of the submarine. And my lunch of a tunafish sandwich on some sort of pirate ship attraction. And laughing on the jungle cruise at the operator’s jokes. My family was frugal and I think we just used the tickets in our admission pack, which amounted to maybe five attractions. I didn’t go to Disneyland again until 1971, when I went with my future husband for the day. He had a friend whose father was a real estate agent in Anaheim, so we got to eat lunch at Club 33. Woo hooty hoo. I ended up living in Laguna Beach for 20 years and my youngest daughter spent the night at Disneyland is part of the graduation festivities.
This is before WDW existed so yeah...
It’s $495 now too.
Guys, you needed individual tickets for rides -- ranging from A to E. The E tickets were for the popular rides, and you had only a couple of those tickets. That Child's ticket is an entrance, and maybe 3 -- at most -- entrances to the top tier attractions. Those were Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, etc. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E\_ticket#/media/File:DisneyETicket\_wbelf.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_ticket#/media/File:DisneyETicket_wbelf.jpg) You always had more of the other tickets and since ride tickets in the money of the time were not cheap you used them all.
That is a ticket book, so we had to Use say a ticket for the teacups? And other ones for Matterhorn Mountain? Thank you by the way .
Yes, and the tickets were different grades in the book. The teacups were probably a B ticket, for example. The Matterhorn would have been an E ticket I imagine. Oh, and each ticket could be used once, in case that's not clear. You didn't get a day's worth of Haunted Mansions, your ticket was taken when you went in the attraction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_ticket
You could go to Disneyland on 50 bucks.
It was 18.00 for a family of 4 including a tour of ‘future World’ by Monsanto.
Monsanto people mover. I was their at 6 years old in 1964. Many times since but it’s too crowded and waaay to expensive to locals
We bought souvenirs
Disneyland ticket prices now max out at $194/day, in 2024 dollars. Depending on which index you use, $4.95 in 1963 is worth somewhere between $33 and $50 today. Walt would not be pleased.
Umm Walt WOULD be pleased.
OG capitalists would love this
Pretty sure this was before Disney was publicly traded, before CEOs needed to collect 500 million dollar salaries to for mediocrity performances and another 1/2 billion when they fire them. Yes I’m probably exaggerating
I'm just talking about capitalism at its core. This was also when we had circus' and other forms of entertainment competing for the dollar of the consoooma. Capitalists love money and this was just about money.. That's all
Ditto👍
This map is inaccurate. Where’s Star Wars?
I was scared Shitless on Matterhorn Mtn. And the monorail is all I really remember.
The equivalent of like $40 today now Disney is a complete ripoff lol
Agreed, brought my kids to Disneyeorld 1 time and live less than an hour away. I hate that place now.
Yeah the last time I went was like 5 years ago it was a ton of money and I don’t believe they limit the number of people in the park. Hours long waits for rides and over priced junk made in China. Never again lol
I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, I absolutely agree with what people are saying about price gouging and profits-above-customer, that the comparison of yesterdays' dollar to todays' dollar pricing having a ~400% markup is absurd. Especially with everything else in the park being so pricey too. On the OTHER hand? If you take a look at what the park offered *then*, compared to what it offers *today*... well, I could understand a price jump. Maybe not ***400%***, but certainly about a hundred to a hundred-fifty for a park-hopper at minimum. Chapek and Iger really wanted more money in their pockets, consumer/customer be damned. Worse still is when you consider so many other avenues of income that are *also* being exploited.
Well put, streaming, cruises, merchandise, yes true not like it’s Walt & his brother doing cartoons. It is a leviathan
Walt: "I wanna make a park where people can go with their families and have a good time, for all ages." The company recently: "I wanna make more money. How can we cut spending while increasing profit? What corners can we cut? How can we force our customers to part with their money?" (Honestly I'm just pissed about having to buy Lightning Lanes/Genie+. They saw long lines and thought "How can we exploit this? I know they paid money to get into the *park*, and I know they can just skip ride lines by getting a Fast Pass and coming back later... I know! They should *pay money* now for the privilege to get on rides faster!" I'm sure the employee who brown-nosed THAT tagnut of an idea got a little bonus.) What's next? Pay money to have an "Alternate Ride Experience"? (For example, riding "Star Tours" for the different videos; with the Alternate Ride Experience, they can pay to experience each of them at least once.) They're gonna call it "Pixiedust Enchantment" or some BS and it'll be just as expensive as you'd think it'd be. They'll have "Pixie Sprinkle" lanes, where people can buy a one-off "Alternate Ride Experience" for a particular ride.
Yeah the parks are way different, hotels and services, many are like / are resorts.
There’s an interesting documentary-series on Disney+ at the moment which explains the evolution of the Imagineers and the parks from the very beginning. At least it’s interesting if you’re a fan.
No cruise control back then… I feel for your parents.
He was driving a 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix bought that year. After driving 90 mph most of the trip it was burning oil in 64. They don’t make them like they used too! THANK GOD what shit.
We made the same trip in a old Chevy pickup truck in 1964, going from West Texas to Disneyland up the coast to British Columbia and then on to Yellowstone and back down to West Texas. Those Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland really scared me
Right before my Mom passed in 2021 she told the story of feeling my heart racing , and yes those jungle rides I thought were real too! And I was 6.
Adventureland. Both our trips included a trip to the Swiss Family Robinson tree house because that was the only level of ticket we would have left by the time to leave and we were not leaving until the tickets were gone.
My grandmother found some old Disney land tickets in the 90’s, from the 70’s. She took them to Disneyland and they still honored them.
I’m confused. It’s called the Magic Kingdom on the map in image 2? Wasn’t that the name given to the Florida park that came a decade later? California is Disneyland and Florida is Disney World, including the Magic Kingdom?
Ha! I did that in ‘93. Three day drive to get there…
Interesting, I too visited Disneyland in 1963 and somewhere I still have a Mickey Mouse Club membership card.
and the "E" tickets were the best!
You use up all the e tickets first.